The Upper Bracket and Lower Bracket continues to be used in the 81st AAABA Tournament.
The format, implemented in the early 1980s, factors in success franchises had in the previous year’s tournament. The Johnstown-1 entry always is in the Lower Bracket, and the Johnstown-2 team is in the Upper Bracket. The two-bracket system carried over when the AAABA Tournament moved to Pool play format in 2016.
This year’s breakdown:
Upper bracket: Altoona-2, Brooklyn, Butler, Columbus, Johnstown-2, Maryland State, New Brunswick, and New Orleans.
Lower bracket: Altoona-1, Buffalo, Cleveland, Johnstown-1, New York City, Schenectady, Youngstown, and Zanesville.